Make the ultimate comfort food for your family: Homemade Shepherd’s Pie (or Cottage Pie) with ground beef – simple, yummy and easy to make. You can even make a double batch and freeze one for later!
The Best Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Is there anything better than comfort food? Maybe the kind of comfort food like those perfect mashed potatoes I shared last week? Not much better than that if you ask me. Only if you put said mashed potatoes on top of a shepherd’s pie, maybe. And that’s exactly what we’re doing here!
My recipe is made with a delicious filling: Ground beef, onions, carrots, celery and peas – all wrapped in a rich gravy. Then, I top it with my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (or regular mashed potatoes, if you’re not an instant-potter 😉) and with cheddar cheese. Simple, but so comforting!
Watch the video tutorial:
We’re all about the cozy casseroles during winter around here. My kids especially are huge fans of this simple shepherd’s pie – and I usually make two while I’m at it, so I can freeze one for later! For other easy and cozy casseroles, see my Baked Ziti with Sausage or my Homemade Chicken Pot Pie.
It might we worth telling you right now that the technical term for this recipe is actually cottage pie (made with ground beef) and not authentic shepherd’s pie (made with ground lamb).
But my mission here on Savory Nothings is always to share recipes real people with a real grocery budget and a regular grocery store and an everyday exhausting kids/work/life situation can make.
So, here it is. Fake Shepherd’s Pie. Aka Homemade Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef. One that’s simple and affordable and delicious. It is the best ❤️
If you’re looking for the best side dishes to round out your meal, these are our favorites:
- Sautéed Green Beans
- Crockpot Glazed Carrots
- Traditional Irish Soda Bread
- A salad with Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
Enjoy!
Homemade Shepherd's Pie
Make the ultimate comfort food for your family: Homemade Shepherd's Pie (or Cottage Pie) with ground beef - simple, yummy and easy to make.
Made this recipe? Why don't you leave me a review to let me know how you liked it! Just tap the stars below to add your vote.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
- ground black pepper , to taste
- 2 tablespoons white flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup red wine
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
- 4 cups mashed potatoes, (click for my recipe and you'll have some leftovers to sneak during cooking)
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Brown meat and vegetables: Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large, deep skillet. Add the beef and cook until browned and all the meat juices have evaporated. Add the garlic, onions, carrots and celery and continue cooking until the veggies are starting to soften.
- Season: Sprinkle the salt, paprika, pepper and flour over the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring all the time, until it smells roasted (about 1 minute).
- Deglaze the pan: Pour the red wine over the meat and veggies, scratching the browned bits off the bottom. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the broth and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until a thick gravy has formed.
- Finish the filling: Stir in the peas and herbs. Check for seasoning, then spread in a 7x11 baking dish and set aside until cooled.
- Prep mash: In the meantime, make your favorite mashed potatoes. You need about 4 cups of mash to top off the casserole. About 1.5 pounds of peeled potatoes should yield enough.
- Bake pie: Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Spread the mashed potatoes over the cold filling. (Be careful not to mix up the two.) Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until golden.
Notes
Make Ahead Instructions:
Assemble the entire pie as directed in the recipe, right up to the finally baking step.
Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days, then bake at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden.
Freezer Instructions:
Prepare as directed in the recipe, right up to the final baking step. Wrap well with foil and then aluminum foil. Label and freeze for up to 2 months.
To reheat: No need to defrost! Remove both foils, then replace the aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F with the foil on for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, until browned.
Cooking tips:
Don't be scared of adding some color:
Make sure to brown the meat and vegetables well for the most intense flavors
Do not skip cooling the filling:
This is how you keep the layers in shepherd's pie from mixing; depending on the dish and the room temperature, cool it for 15-30 minutes (sometimes I put mine outside in the winter, it's cold in 15 minutes!)
Ingredient Substitutes:
For a gluten-free friendly version, use cornstarch in place of the flour. Be sure to check all of your ingredients to make sure they're gluten free (especially the beef broth! you can use water if you don't have any).
If you don’t like peas, it’s also delicious with chopped green beans.
I hear people make this low carb by using mashed cauliflower they whisk together with 1 egg yolk in place of the mashed potatoes. I love my potatoes, but your call 😉
You can also make this vegetarian by using 2 cups of cooked, brown lentils in place of the ground beef and vegetable broth in place of the beef broth.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
6 peopleAmount Per Serving: Calories: 377 Saturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 56mg Sodium: 562mg Carbohydrates: 45g Fiber: 5g Sugar: 6g Protein: 24g
Try these comfort food dinners next:
- Crockpot Beef Tips and Mushroom Gravy
- Instant Pot Irish Stew
- Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Easy Swedish Meatballs
- Crock Pot Beef Stew
Or check out our collection of easy dinner recipes with ground beef for more ideas!
Jess
This was a hit in my house! So much flavor and the parm cheese was a great addition!
Donna M Goodman
So delicious. Not hard to make. I used a tub of mashed potatoes and i used the already chopped onions, carrots and celery. i made a pie plate about 8 inches round and a small casserole i will freeze.
Nwazi
I didn’t get it as Golden brown as yours and my beef was a little dry. But you were spot on with the fluffy mash tips 👌
Chelsea Kane
Made this tonight and couldn’t stop eating the filling while I was preparing the mashed potatoes. So good! A little more work than the shepherds pie I used to make with frozen veggies, but SO worth it. We won’t be going back to the old recipe 🙂
Maria
This was a lot of work, but it tasted AWESOME!! I sautéed the vegetables separately first as I didn’t have room in the pan for them and the meat. I was out of thyme and so left it out. I added a full teaspoon of salt.
Michelle S.
Just made this last night. Came out so amazingly yummy I had to go back for seconds. Since I don’t cook with alcohol I used extra broth but also a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. Beyond delicious. This cottage pie is definitely part of my meal rotation with my kids now. Thank you 💕
Joyce
Excellent recipe! Will definitely make it again
Nora
Very glad to hear it, Joyce. Thanks for coming back to leave a review, I appreciate it!
Jeanne Wallace
Wonderful comfort food and the ingredients are those that you usually have in the house. I did cut the rosemary to 1/2 tsp because we found the whole tsp to be overwhelming. I also cheat by buying refrigerated ready-to-eat mashed potatoes.
Nora
Jeanne, I’m so very glad you enjoyed the Shepherd’s Pie. Glad you cut the rosemary back to an amount that suits your taste! And cheating to make life easier is 100% allowed 😉
Joyce
I did that too. Cut the thyme in half also
Anna
Has anyone tried red cooking wine instead of regular wine?
Nora
You can absolutely do that, Anna. I just prefer not to buy cooking wine because we’re veeeeery slow wine drinkers so we usually only have one bottle we use for both cooking and drinking 😉
Anna
Thanks! Will be making this tonight and excited since we have never tried it but looove comfort food and one dish type meals!
Jack
If you can’t drink the wine, don’t cook with it !
Nora
Jack, normally I tend to agree with this. I usually write a paragraph on wine suggestions when I use wine in a recipe, but it must have slipped my mind here. I always recommend using a decent dry red over cooking wine, but then again I’m also all in favor of using up what we already have in the pantry – less food wasted, more money saved. Also, not everyone enjoys drinking wine 😉
Joyce
Cooking wine has salt added, so you may need to watch other added salt or it will be too much
Nora
Joyce, thanks for pointing this out! Very true.
Linda M
Turned out so well!!!! My dad was one happy guy that I made his childhood Dave for him, thank u for a great recipe
Warren
First time making shepherd’s pie, thanks for the recipe. My three year old loved it so much he ate his whole serving, I couldn’t believe it.
Carol
We are just finishing up our dinner with this wonderful recipe! We will definitely do this again. Thank you! It was my first time making Shepherd’s Pie. Delicious!
Nora
Glad you enjoyed the Shepherd’s Pie, Carol! Thanks for coming back to leave a review, I appreciate your time!
Kelli
Can I use dried herbs instead of fresh? And if so, what quantities would you suggest? I would love to give this a try for the family coming to visit, but we don’t keep fresh herbs on hand.
Nora
Oh absolutely, Kelli! I would go with 1.5 teaspoons dried parsley, 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary and 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme. Hope that helps!
John Baker
Wonderful, made with your instant pot mash. Turned out absolutely perfect!!!!